


reverie

by anons



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: M/M, time slip au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 08:41:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29061492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anons/pseuds/anons
Summary: Wonwoo can time-travel to the past; Soonyoung can time-travel to the future. Somehow, they meet in between.
Relationships: Jeon Wonwoo/Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi
Comments: 26
Kudos: 80





	reverie

**Author's Note:**

> so there i was, minding my own business n missing hoshi, when i got his weverse notif. these four things happened in exact order: i click the notification, see the post, close my phone, and then breathe very very very very deeply

Wonwoo stops experiencing life chronologically at 19. Today he’s 26 and then he’s not. He opens his eyes to Bohyuk shorter than he remembers him to be. _Only for a week, I promise,_ his mother is saying, knelt in front of them like she’s praying. _I will only be gone for a week._

She kisses both their foreheads and leaves for a trip Wonwoo knows fully well she’ll never return from. Bohyuk clutches his sleeve with a quiet sniffle. And when Wonwoo blinks again, he’s back to his time. Twenty-six and nose no stranger to memorial flowers.

“—Wonwoo, hey. Wonwoo, you okay?”

The world settles itself onto his shoulders. He sees Soonyoung lift his head from the pillow with a concerned look. “Hey, what’s wrong? You looked like you slipped for a bit there. Did you—did you slip?”

Wonwoo nods.

“Okay.” Soonyoung’s gaze is searching. “Was it a bad time?”

He nods again wordlessly. The contortion on Soonyoung’s face softens. “Come here,” he says quietly, and opens his arms until Wonwoo’s burying his face into his neck. Soonyoung doesn’t say anything. Just tightens his embrace and kisses his head. Wonwoo closes his eyes until he forgets. He doesn’t know how long they stay that way. With Soonyoung, Wonwoo always loses track of time.

They met when they were 15—chronological age. But Soonyoung had pointedly ignored his existence until the first year of college and they didn’t date until their third year. On the bathroom floor of Kim Mingyu’s twenty-four square foot dorm room, Soonyoung kissed Wonwoo for the first time.

“Hey, Wonwoo-yah,” Soonyoung had said after the kiss. “I’ll tell you a secret.” He slurred, alcohol breath fanning Wonwoo’s face. “It’ll be our secret, okay? Promise me you won’t tell anyone.”

Hesitantly, Wonwoo nodded. 

“Okay.” He took a breath. “You’re going to fall in love with me someday.” 

Wonwoo moved back with a confused blink. “What?”

“You’re going to fall in love with me,” Soonyoung exhaled. “I know it. I’ve travelled to the future and we were always together. You’ll realize you like me. And, and one day—” he swallowed, “I’ll realize I like you back.”

Getting Soonyoung drunk is always a bad idea. Wonwoo’s forehead pinches when Seungcheol arrives at their doorstep one day with a piss-drunk Soonyoung and an apologetic smile. 

“He promised to have only one drink,” he explains, handing a babbling Soonyoung over who he accepts with a sigh. “We have no idea how he managed to drink four bottles without us knowing.”

Wonwoo grimaces. “His business trip is tomorrow.”

“I know, I know. We’re really sorry, Wonwoo-yah.”

“It’s this idiot’s fault, hyung,” he says, moving Soonyoung’s face away when he leans his heavy head on Wonwoo’s shoulder. “You don’t have to apologize.”

After Seungcheol leaves with a last apology, they crookedly waltz to the bathroom. Soonyoung babbles his mouth dry and doesn’t realize Wonwoo’s stripped him off his shirt until Wonwoo speaks.

“I’m going to wash your hair, okay?”

He is immediately seized by a look of panic but Wonwoo forces him down before he can retreat.

“No. Behave. You’re not the one who has to deal with your whining in the morning when the hangover kicks in and your hair’s all sticky from the gel and your breath alcohol-swathed. _No_ , Soonyoung. Stop moving.”

“Wonwoo,” he whines.

“Soonyoung,” Wonwoo choruses back, face splitting to a devilish grin when he hears Soonyoung yelp from the cold water. “Stop moving. Just a few minutes, alright? Then you can rest.”

Eventually, he gives up the fight. Wonwoo takes his time untangling the strands of his hair and kneading shampoo into his scalp. After, he slathers toothpaste on Soonyoung’s yellow toothbrush and hands it to him.

His hands pause at the door. “I can trust you with that, right?”

Soonyoung growls but he sticks the toothbrush into his mouth nevertheless. Satisfied, Wonwoo leaves to prepare his clothes. When Soonyoung returns to the room, he grumpily sits next to his clothes on the bed.

“That was a little too quick,” Wonwoo says, grabbing a towel behind the door. “Are you sure you brushed your teeth?”

“Do you want me to kiss you to prove it?” Soonyoung snaps.

He cracks into an amused grin. “Just making sure,” he teases, unable to help himself as he kisses the corner of Soonyoung’s frown. He brings the towel to his hair and starts rubbing it dry. The terrycloth frays roughly against his head. Soonyoung keeps oddly quiet throughout the entire thing and Wonwoo finds him with a glazed over look when he puts the towel down. Like he’s slipping through time. 

“Soonyoung,” he calls.

Soonyoung looks up with a startled expression. 

“You alright?” he asks. “Did you slip?”

“No,” Soonyoung stammers, “I didn’t. But I think I did earlier when I was drunk. I just remembered it now.”

“Yeah? What happened?”

Soonyoung shakes his head. “I forgot. I just know I slipped earlier but I don’t remember what happened. It’s all blurry to me.” 

“Okay,” Wonwoo says, handing him his clothes. “Change up so you can rest. Maybe you’ll remember tomorrow.”

“Maybe,” Soonyoung echoes hollowly. His gaze is far away the entire time he switches to his sleeping clothes and tucks himself into the bed. When Wonwoo turns to leave the bedroom, Soonyoung stops him with a vice grip on his hand. 

He asks in alarm, “Where are you going?”

“I have to study, Soonyoung,” Wonwoo says, and Soonyoung’s grip tightens when he tries to remove it. “I need to finish this paper by Wednesday. I can’t go to bed with you right now.” He adds a bit gently, “Just an hour more, alright?”

Soonyoung finally lets go, albeit hesitantly. When Wonwoo kills the lights, Soonyoung is already slipping into a much-needed sleep. His eyebrows, though, remain furrowed for the rest of the night.

“Hey,” Soonyoung says, dumping his head on the table. “Can you, like, grab a spoon from the drawer and drill it to my head? Because I feel like that’d hurt less.”

Wonwoo laughs. He does grab a spoon but does not poke his boyfriend’s brain out like he’d ridiculously requested. Instead, he plunks it into a bowl of soup which he places on the table. 

“Eat up,” he says. “You have a flight to catch in three hours. Can’t be late.”

Soonyoung turns his head so he’s looking at Wonwoo. “Water?”

“Anything you wish for, my prince,” he says, tone sarcastic, but obediently stands up to get a glass of water nevertheless. 

“You didn’t cook this, did you?”

“God no,” he snorts, handing Soonyoung the glass and sitting across him. “We have our disagreements but I don’t think I want to kill you yet.”

“ _You don’t think_ ?” Soonyoung echoes incredulously. “ _Yet_?”

Wonwoo grins. “Eat up, Soonyoungie.”

Their morning conversation is clipped with Soonyoung’s complaints of a recurring headache. He listens to Soonyoung talk about last night’s impromptu drinking session which, apparently, was Jeonghan’s idea. He wanted to welcome the team’s new recruit—a kid from Iksan named Lee Chan with too wide blazers and ridiculously gelled hair.

“Very adorable and passionate, that kid,” he comments. “You’d like him.”

Wonwoo cracks a smile when Soonyoung groans again as his head throbs.

After, he washes the dishes. Soonyoung retreats to the bathroom to get ready. When the plates dry, Wonwoo goes to double-check Soonyoung’s luggage. Buttoned shirts, squared pants, neat pairs of socks and underwear. He makes sure to insert Aspirin in the hand-carry, too. By nine, Soonyoung is finished and waiting for his Uber.

“Sorry I can’t drive you.”

“Nah, it’s alright,” he says. “Besides, don’t you have class today?”

“Yeah, 10:30. Is Seungkwan already at the airport?”

Soonyoung snickers. “Yeah, he’s eager.”

“Can’t blame him,” Wonwoo laughs. “He hasn’t come home in almost two years, right?” 

“Yeah,” he says. “He has a whole itinerary planned out for us because we get the first day off. He wanted me to bring you along, actually.”

Wonwoo tilts his head. “It’s a business trip, though?”

“You know Seungcheol-hyung wouldn’t mind if I brought a plus one,” Soonyoung says. “Especially if it’s you. I’m starting to think he likes you more than he likes me. Me! His own employee.”

Wonwoo just laughs. 

“My whole team is in love with you, I swear.”

He grins cheekily. “Can you blame them?”

Soonyoung snorts but he pulls Wonwoo in anyway with a smile. However, he stops a few inches in, body on high alert like an alarmed cat. Wonwoo asks, “What’s wrong?”

“Déjà vu.”

“What?”

“Déjà vu!” he furrows his eyebrows, looking around as though he’d find clues in the four walls of their home. “You know, I’ve actually been feeling weird since I woke up.” 

“You sure it’s not the hangover?”

He rolls his eyes. “I think I can tell the difference, Wonwoo.” When his phone vibrates to notify him about the nearing Uber, he pulls away. “It’s like I’ve lived through this day, you know?”

“Oh, yeah. You did mention that you slipped a bit last night.”

“Yeah.” Soonyoung blinks. “I still don’t remember what happened though.”

“Well at least you have something to occupy yourself with on the plane, right?” Wonwoo says, poking his chest. “You should wait outside.” 

“Okay.”

Wonwoo hums. “Go. Be safe. Get that promotion.”

Soonyoung’s phone vibrates once more. “I’ll text you when I get to the airport and arrive in Jeju,” he says, looking out the window where his Uber waits, then he tugs Wonwoo down. “Be back soon.”

Wonwoo accepts his kiss. “Tell Seungkwan I said hello.” 

“Will do. See you in four days!” Soonyoung says, and he walks out into the pavement where the wheels of his luggage smack against cobble. He turns back to Wonwoo once again to mouth _déjà vu!!!!!_ before greeting the Uber driver that steps out to help with his luggage and closing the door with one last wave.

On the short drive to his university, Wonwoo slips. One minute he’s driving at an intersection, the next he’s got chopsticks-full of kimchi poised halfway to his mouth. Unperturbed, Wonwoo eats it and looks around at the cafeteria.

He turns to a younger Mingyu beside him. “Hey, what’s your next class?” 

“Algebra II,” Mingyu sighs loudly. “Can I have your notes for this class, hyung? Mrs Hwang apparently likes giving pop quizzes so I have to pay extra attention to her lectures.”

He deduces that he’s probably around 9th grade at this time. “Sorry, Mingyu. My dad accidentally threw away my notes from last year.”

Mingyu’s face turn sullen. Then, he brightens once again when he sees someone in the distance. “It’s my new friend, the one I’ve been telling you about! Hey, Minghao, over here!”

Wonwoo pauses. If he’s in 9th grade and Mingyu had just made friends with the Chinese transfer student Minghao, then that means…

Minghao stops by their table—hair permed, face with leftover baby fat. Beside him stands a very familiar face that has Wonwoo testing his willpower to not break into an ear-splitting grin. A formidable task, it seems, because smiling comes to him naturally whenever Soonyoung is around. 

With herculean effort though, he manages to keep his face carefully levelled.

“Hey, Soonyoung-hyung,” Mingyu says, then he turns to Wonwoo. “This is Minghao, my new friend. And that’s Soonyoung-hyung. They’re both from the dance club.” To Soonyoung he says, “This here is Jeon Wonwoo. You guys are in the same year.”

Soonyoung freezes. “Wonwoo?”

“That’s me.” He lightly waves. “Nice to meet you, Soonyoung.”

He looks at Wonwoo. His face turns ashen at every passing second and it takes everything for Wonwoo to bite down the knowing smile threatening to form in his lips. 

“Um, Minghao, I think I forgot something from the meeting room,” Soonyoung says, eyes still glued to Wonwoo like he can’t physically pull his gaze away. “I’m gonna go get it. You can have lunch without me, right?" 

Minghao protests. “But hyung—”

“I need to go.” He steps back in panic. “Now. Um, nice seeing you again, Mingyu-yah!” And then he runs away.

When this had happened, Wonwoo was downright confused at how Soonyoung acted. Even more so in the following months, _years,_ when he proceeded to act like Wonwoo didn’t exist even with multiple mutual friends between them. Now that Wonwoo’s experiencing this for the second time, though, he just bites back a smile knowing fully well that Soonyoung had his reasons.

“What’s up with him?” Mingyu wonders, perplexed.

“No idea,” he says, popping another kimchi into his mouth.

(Soonyoung had come clean to him about it many, many years later. He explained that he’d panicked that time because the week before they met he slipped into the future for the first time which he’d chalked off into a dream until he met Wonwoo, the guy from his “dreams”. As his time travels increased in frequency, the more he ignored Wonwoo. He couldn’t believe he could love someone like Wonwoo, apparently.)

 _Well, joke’s on him_ , Wonwoo thinks before he’s pulled back to his time. 

He returns to his phone ringing loud in the car. His gaze snaps to the traffic lights that had just turned red. His foot on the brakes come automatically but a bit too late. In a split second, the sedan smashes to the side of his car.

When he comes to for the first time, Bohyuk is sitting beside his bed. The second time, the room is empty but hushed conversations spill past the door from the outside. By the third time, he isn’t alone. 

“Are you slipping or something?” he manages to rasp.

Soonyoung blinks until his gaze focuses on Wonwoo. He visibly holds down his expression but his eyes betray his whole face. “You’re awake,” he says, eyes weary but its red rims watered down like it’s been hours since he last cried.

“I am,” Wonwoo says, hoping his smile doesn’t look like a grimace. “Water?”

Soonyoung swallows, standing up to oblige. His fingers are trembling when he hands the water bottle to Wonwoo. “What’s the matter?” he asks after. “Are you okay?”

When Soonyoung laughs, it’s hollow. “You have the audacity to ask that when you’re… you’re…”

“Yeah, well, you don’t look okay.”

“I am okay.” He clenches his jaw. “I’m fine. You’re not.”

“I _am_ alright,” Wonwoo insists despite the ache in his ribs. “See? I’m alive and talking to you. I’m fine.”

“You’re not,” he snaps, and Wonwoo is visibly surprised. “You’re—this isn’t fine, okay? This shouldn’t have happened.”

“It was an accident, Soonyoung—”

“There shouldn’t have been an accident in the first place.”

“Accidents happen to—”

“This shouldn’t have happened to you.”

“It’s not like we could have prevented it—”

“I could have, okay?!” he yells, fists clenched, and Wonwoo’s mouth snaps shut. “I could’ve stopped it— _we_ could’ve prevented it.” He grits his teeth, seeing Wonwoo’s confused expression. “You know when I told you I slipped when I was drunk and I couldn’t remember what happened? Well I finally remembered. I fucking remembered it at the airport. I’ve already lived through this day before. I had the chance to change it and I ruined it by getting piss-drunk and forgetting.”

Wonwoo stares at him. “Soonyoung…”

“That time-slip was the longest I’ve ever had,” he exhales shakily. “I lived through today from the morning up until I found out you got into an accident. When I got the call from the hospital, I immediately went back to our time and then I passed out from drinking and eventually forgot about it.” He looks at Wonwoo, eyes glistening with unshed tears. “I tried calling you, you know? When I remembered. And when you didn’t answer, I was so, so scared.”

“You’re blaming yourself,” Wonwoo says—an observation.

Soonyoung doesn’t say anything. The tears pour out of his eyes suddenly. “It’s not your fault,” Wonwoo insists, and when it makes Soonyoung cry harder he panics. “It’s not your fault. Soonyoung, hey, come on. Talk to me.” 

Soonyoung just shakes his head, crying.

“It’s not your fault, please,” he says, the pain in his arm and the wires sticking from his wrists stopping him from reaching out. “Just because you’ve seen it happen before doesn’t mean that you could’ve prevented it. That’s outside our abilities. Look, if that’s the case, then you could’ve prevented a lot of things, alright?” He tries to go for a lighter tone. “See, you could’ve prevented yourself from dating me if you wanted to. Didn’t you say you found me lame?”

Soonyoung laughs through his tears. “That’s different, idiot.”

“Well okay, maybe,” he accedes, relieved at the sound of his laughter. “But the point is there are things out of your control. You’ve had this ability longer than I have but I know this for sure: just because we can travel through time doesn’t mean we can play god. So stop blaming yourself, alright? I’m fine, I’m alive, and whether you like it or not, you’re not getting rid of me anytime soon.”

Eventually, the tears stop. Soonyoung sniffles and wipes his face dry with a handkerchief Wonwoo is a hundred percent sure belongs to him. He asks, “What happened to your business trip?”

Soonyoung gives him a look like it’s obvious but he just looks ridiculous with his face puffed up. 

“What? I’m just concerned,” he says, readying the bait. “You told me that trip was important. You could’ve gotten a promotion if things went well, right?”

Soonyoung snaps. “Do you expect me to pick a fucking promotion over you? What the hell do you take me for?”

 _Gotcha_. Conjuring his most infuriating grin, he says, “Just asking.”

A wrinkled doctor comes to check on him minutes later, Wonwoo’s dad trailing behind. She lingers for a few minutes to entertain questions. Yes, Wonwoo has a fractured rib and a broken knee but luckily, no complications. No, Wonwoo cannot attend classes for two weeks. Yes, Wonwoo can leave the hospital after five days. Eventually, the doctor leaves. Wonwoo’s dad also leaves to make a few calls. Soonyoung stays beside him the whole time.

“Do you need anything?” he asks. “Something to drink? Some soup?”

Wonwoo drags his gaze from the blankets to Soonyoung. “Rice cake soup?” 

“Rice cake soup,” Soonyoung repeats, standing up. “Anything else?”

Wonwoo shakes his head. 

“Right, okay, I’ll just—I’ll be back, alright? Don’t leave.”

With a weak smile, he pulls his hand up. “It’s not like I can, genius.” 

Soonyoung doesn’t say anything. When he reaches the door, he hesitates. Then he turns back around and just as Wonwoo opens his mouth to ask him what he’s doing, Soonyoung presses their lips together. His mouth is gentle, insistent, as if he’s trying to be careful but he can’t help but press harder. 

“Don’t leave me,” he whispers against Wonwoo’s lips.

Wonwoo swallows, heart leaping out of his fractured rib. “Okay.”

Mutely, Soonyoung pulls away. Wonwoo can still feel the tremble of his lips even after he leaves the room.

Soonyoung sticks by his side like superglue when they get the green light to return home. He is restless for the first few days. Always fussing over Wonwoo, always there to run after him if he so much as wobbles on his clutches. 

He gets extra clingy, too, and Wonwoo’s still deciding if he likes it or not.

(He definitely does.)

“Soonyoung,” he says with a mouthful of hair.

Soonyoung hums in response but he doesn’t move an inch from where he’s smothering Wonwoo and threatening to break his ribs with his tight embrace.

“Soonyoung,” he repeats, “I can’t feel my legs.”

It works like a charm. Soonyoung immediately springs up and searches his entire body. “Sorry, oh my god,” he babbles, “Sorry. I was just—are you okay? Does it hurt? Do you need medicine? Do you need—”

Wonwoo exhales. “I’m fine, Soonyoung. Just achey.”

His expression crumples, hand coming to touch the side of Wonwoo’s face. He can feel himself unthawing. “I’m fine, really,” he says, softening, and he’d cuddle a bit longer if his ribs weren’t yelling in pain, “You don’t have to worry. I just need some stretching space.” 

“Okay.” Soonyoung moves away hesitantly. 

Recovering isn’t easy. Rehab is a pain in the ass. But it happens, anyway. Eventually, Soonyoung stops clocking out of work early to take care of him. Wonwoo had to threaten him into returning to his regular work hours to which the little shit responded with, “What are you gonna do? Hit me with your clutches?”

(He did, actually, and the howl Soonyoung lets out when the clutch hit his shin made Wonwoo laugh so hard Soonyoung had to kiss him to shut him up.)

“Do you ever wonder why we slip through time?”

Wonwoo drags his gaze from the book to Soonyoung. “Sometimes,” he says, “but it’s something I’ve learned to stop dwelling on because thinking of the reason usually leads to a lot more questions until my head starts to hurt.”

Soonyoung sits next to him. “Figures you’d get a headache every time you think.” 

Wonwoo reaches out to pinch his ear but Soonyoung stretches too far away his arm ends up just touching his chin. Soonyoung laughs, using it to pull him in until they’re both lying on the couch. When he speaks, Wonwoo feels the rumble of it.

“For real, though,” Soonyoung mumbles against his temple. “Do you ever wonder why the world decided to give us the burden of slipping through time? Do you ever wonder why we got this power, out of all people?”

Wonwoo hums. “There are probably more of us.”

“I thought so too,” Soonyoung muses. “It can’t be just us experiencing this phenomenon, right? We’re just two regular guys. There’s literally nothing special about us.”

“Hey,” Wonwoo complains.

He laughs, lightly hitting the back of his head with his knuckles. “Oh shut up, you big baby.”

For a while, they keep quiet. Time settles slow around them. Being with Soonyoung feels like sitting squat at the bottom of the swimming pool. With him, the whole world seems to stop. He picks his head up to look at Soonyoung and says, “There’s something I’ve been wondering about.”

“What is it?”

“Do you think we would have been together if you didn’t have the ability to travel to the future?” he asks. “Surely, the fact that you see me in it affected how you viewed me, right? Because you knew it was inevitable?”

Soonyoung frowns. “Are you saying my feelings are forced?”

“No,” he laughs, “I’m just thinking if things would have been different if you hadn’t known we would be together now. I’m not doubting how you feel.”

He watches Soonyoung think. His hands go up to uncrease the furrow in Soonyoung’s eyebrows, and Soonyoung looks at him. After a minute he says, “I don’t think things would have changed.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah,” he says, “I resisted you at first, remember? And besides, I’m as stubborn as a bull. If I don’t want it to happen, then it won’t. Nevermind the visions. But it happened nevertheless. I ended up realizing I liked you. And even if I didn’t have the ability to travel through time, I think I would have liked you nevertheless.” He adds a bit quietly: “I just can’t imagine not loving you, you know?”

Wonwoo stares at him, unable to communicate his feelings. Soonyoung blinks for a few times before his eyes glaze over. He’s time-slipping again. It usually takes a minute for him to come back but Wonwoo would wait forever if he had to. 

A few seconds in, he starts slipping too.

The Busan beachside is cold at night. He stares at the dark expanse of the ocean stretched out in front of him until he gets his bearings. When he looks up, a younger Soonyoung is looking at him, a bit panicked, as if he got caught.

“Sorry,” he stammers, starting to back up. “I didn’t know what I was—I’ll go now.”

“Wait!” Wonwoo says.

He does.

“Come sit for a while,” he tells Soonyoung who looks like he wants to jump into cold water, “Might as well, right? Now that you’re out here.”

Soonyoung looks at him for a long minute before hesitantly planting himself on the sand next to him. They barely exchange words here, he remembers. But the next day Soonyoung stops avoiding his eyes and everything snowballs from there.

He glances at a pensive Soonyoung. “What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing,” Soonyoung sighs, staring out at the sea.

He doesn’t push. Back in his own time, his Soonyoung has probably just returned and is waiting for Wonwoo to come back. He’d push Wonwoo’s slipping glasses back to his eyes and kiss his forehead. 

This Soonyoung is quiet. Closed off like an unread book. 

But this Soonyoung is also _his_ Soonyoung in a sense. If he stares long enough, he could see the worry lines that’ll etch itself into Soonyoung’s face when he gets older. He could imagine the playful smile when he catches Wonwoo staring. He looks at Soonyoung and sees the Soonyoung of the past, present, and the future. Sitting right next to him.

After a few minutes, Soonyoung asks, “Do you believe in time-travel, Wonwoo?”

Wonwoo blinks, surprised at the question. He looks and sees nothing but introspection in Soonyoung’s face. He says back, “Why do you ask?” but Soonyoung just shrugs.

“Well, I think there’s something to it,” Wonwoo says, choosing his words carefully. “Just because it hasn’t been proved doesn’t mean it isn’t true.”

Soonyoung spares him a quick glance but doesn’t say anything more about it. After a while, he stands up and dusts the sand off his shorts. He starts his trek back to the hotel but pause a few steps in to say, “I don’t hate you, you know.”

Wonwoo looks up at him and smiles. “I know.”

“Just wanted to put it out there,” he says, staring at Wonwoo before turning on his heels and walking away without a single word of goodbye.

When Wonwoo comes back, Soonyoung is carding his fingers into his hair. His head jerks up when Wonwoo makes a small noise of something and he smiles. 

“Hey,” he says, “How was the trip?”

“Good,” Wonwoo sighs happily, tucking his face closer, “I met younger you again.”

“Yeah? What happened?”

“We hung out at the beach,” he says. “You know, during that Busan trip when we were sophomores. Your hair made you look like a tomato back then.” He laughs when Soonyoung reprimands him by pulling his hair playfully. “How ‘bout you?”

Soonyoung shrugs but very obviously avoids his eyes. “It was fine.”

“What happened? What did you see?”

He doesn’t answer for a while. His fingers retreat from Wonwoo’s hair to grab his hand from where it’d been resting beside his head. Wonwoo watches as he holds up their clasped fingers together and stares at it like he’s thinking. He’s turning suspiciously glassy-eyed. 

“Soonyoung,” Wonwoo repeats, “What did you see?”

When he opens his mouth again to demand, Soonyoung replies with a simple, “You,” as he brings their hands up. He turns it over and kisses the knuckle between Wonwoo’s middle and pinky finger. “Always you.” 

**Author's Note:**

> three snwu fics have been sitting on my drive for six months now and in honor of by far the best snwu selca that has ever graced god's green earth i decided to publish one of them
> 
> here it is now, laid bare....


End file.
